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Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Starting to get ready to build the mast and spars. Ive hooked out the Quondong from the stack on the weekend and I figure there probably is only enough to build the mast (with a bit left over) so Im looking for either species to be able to finish off my spars and bowsprit.

Does anyone have contacts for a supplier/importer of OLD GROWTH Douglas Fir?
Im trying a local supplier for the Quondong.
And Im pretty sure I can get some Huuon Pine if I decide to use that particular species as a last option...I think Greg Larkin got some recently?

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Hi Bern,

there's a supplier down here with good fine grained oregon. They import large cants from US/Canada ? It's still a bit green I reckon and if I were placing a big order I'd come down and oversee the resawing. They have a big band resaw.

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

I've been accumulating oregon in 10'' and 8'' x 2'' from the local demolition yard. It's all dry! Mainly from a building boom in the 80's. I is usually good enough for boat work but it may not exist up your way ?

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

I have made extensive use of No.1 clear-grain Oregon, Hoop Pine, and Silver Quandong. Quandong is the most difficult to source, but is superb timber - better than any Sitka Spruce I've ever laid hands on. Oregon is OK, but you need to get straight-grained stuff with about 28 to 32 lines per inch. Of the lot, No. 1 clear-grain Hoop Pine is the safest. Look up Bootle to discover the physical characteristics - better than Spruce and Oregon. An added bonus is that it is so easy to get here in Australia.

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Ross, Quondong is still available. It just depends on what locations the millers can get into to be able to cut it out. Most types of speciality timbers are on private land these days.

Incidentally Im going to be cutting out a bunch of coconut palms on my own property to make way for timber trees. I only have a 'small' block of land but even a handful of trees will be better to be grown for useful timber than palms dropping nuts every other day.

I already have several different species on the block (which is now choked with trees ) so Im keen to maximise the potential for future useful and valuable building material even if I dont get to realise the end result myself.

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Bernadette, have you any updates on the build aside from these sticks you're getting out? I was following your build a while ago but you stopped posting for a while and I haven't seen anything added since. Have I missed it? I was hoping you'd start posting again. Thanks,
Daniel

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.-Henry David Thoreau-

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Tom, no the mast and spars will be solid (laminated). I will use resorcinol glue and varnish the mast and spars and white paint the ends to look trad. The Quondong is indeed very flexible. Ive had the gaff on Pequot bending 'remarkably' like a boomerang one time when sailing up Jackson harbour under the bridge in a sudden strong gust. And the masts on both Pequot and Decatur have been seen to be 'pumping' when the wind gets up and the pressure is on....

Daniel, yes Im still working on the boat. much slower progress now as Dad does not work at all and I do what I can during the weeks in my time off at home. I work a rotating contract of 8 weeks on and 8 weeks off. I havent posted for a long time with photos...I know, but the progress has been tedious and I figured it wasn't worth it. Im just about done with the cap rail and transom and will post when its all completed.

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Originally Posted by Ross Lillistone

I have made extensive use of No.1 clear-grain Oregon, Hoop Pine, and Silver Quandong. Quandong is the most difficult to source, but is superb timber - better than any Sitka Spruce I've ever laid hands on. Oregon is OK, but you need to get straight-grained stuff with about 28 to 32 lines per inch. Of the lot, No. 1 clear-grain Hoop Pine is the safest. Look up Bootle to discover the physical characteristics - better than Spruce and Oregon. An added bonus is that it is so easy to get here in Australia.

hi Ross. Are you saying hoop pine is the best for mast building?
cheers Steve

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Originally Posted by PeterSibley

Hi Bern,

there's a supplier down here with good fine grained oregon. They import large cants from US/Canada ? It's still a bit green I reckon and if I were placing a big order I'd come down and oversee the resawing. They have a big band resaw.

Tried this guy...(lacking terribly in customer service over the phone). He says they are completely out of Oregan. Gave me a geography lesson and told me the Oregan was coming from Canada. I gather this is what people now commonly refer to as 'mansplaining'. Ah well....

I asked if he was getting any more "soon"....his (typical) reply... "not sure". When I asked if he was getting any old growth...he said he doesn't know. I replied..."do you get what you are given"? His reply, "yes".

End of conversation.

My encounter doesn't match the expectations a customer can expect to receive as per their web site.

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Originally Posted by PeterSibley

I've been accumulating oregon in 10'' and 8'' x 2'' from the local demolition yard. It's all dry! Mainly from a building boom in the 80's. I is usually good enough for boat work but it may not exist up your way ?

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Its ok Peter...Ive had luck from a supplier in Victoria. More than helpful, very knowledgeable and keen to sell their remnant stock (which Im hoping will be suitable to my requirements when I get back to them tomorrow).
It looks like a lot of outlet/retailers are either low or out of stock and I guess its due to the export system. It seems to operate a bit like the harvesting and supply of Huon Pine.

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Hi Bern, I met up with a bloke from Tas who gathers and sells good timber, and is a life-long wooden yachtie and doesn't mansplain. He may be worth talking to if you need Huon Pine or anything from Tassie. Let me know if you want the contact details if you don't already have them. Neil Smith from Smithton. His boat is Wild Wind.

When I first joined WBF they made me write a book to prove I was a real yachty. I was so gullible.PaperbackE-book

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Originally Posted by Bernadette

Tried this guy...(lacking terribly in customer service over the phone). He says they are completely out of Oregan. Gave me a geography lesson and told me the Oregan was coming from Canada. I gather this is what people now commonly refer to as 'mansplaining'. Ah well....

I asked if he was getting any more "soon"....his (typical) reply... "not sure". When I asked if he was getting any old growth...he said he doesn't know. I replied..."do you get what you are given"? His reply, "yes".

End of conversation.

My encounter doesn't match the expectations a customer can expect to receive as per their web site.

Sorry about that Bern, they were pretty good when I visited their yard,

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

Originally Posted by Geftb

You showed up in the hoop Pine mast thread back in 2014 as well Dave Cheers!

Yes, I thought it was amusing. I tried to look up something about the woods discussed here and found a recommendation to look here, which lead to the same people and all the way back to myself. Like I can tell me what I don't know. It is rather academic for me, I would have a harder time sourcing Australian wood than you have sourcing American wood. 30 rings per inch, 300 years for 10 inches, and we call wood a renewable resource. Another complication with Oregon is that the properties are different depending on where it grows.

There have been some recent wood technology columns in WoodenBoat recently about wood species for masts and oars. The mast woods all had a similar ratio of can't remember to I forget. They were also trees with similar growth habits. Something to do with the properties needed to grow fast and survive wind loads make for longer lasting masts. If I could remember or you could find it, the information might help compare these woods for use in masts. The requirements for spars and bowsprits might be more similar to oars.

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

By all complete do you mean she's ready for launch or the rail cap is installed and complete? I'm sure many of us here would love to see a pic of where you're at now. And no progress is too boring to post about. Except mine, nobody wants to see my catspaw sit there doing nothing.

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.-Henry David Thoreau-

Re: Silver Quondong and/or Douglas Fir

No help to you, but I too find it easy to search around in the Salvage yards and come out with some good sized length's of Oregon. I believe this timber is still used and imported regularly to a number of Adelaide wood suppliers such as Bones Timber, or Australian Timber Supplies.

How far down is Brisbane from you? or what's the closest capital or major city center to you in North Queensland?